Abu Mohamed
Abu Mohamed or Abu Mohammad (? - 1163) was the Chief Da'i of the Syrian Assassins preceding Rashid Ad-Din Sinan. History During the last decade of Abu Muhammad's leadership, weakness, disorganization and disunity manifested themselves in the Syrian Ismaili community. Many Ismailis emigrated to the neighboring cities of Hama, Hims and Aleppo, not only in order to strengthen their da'wa (mission), but also to earn a living; for the Assassin territory was not fertile. This situation was worsened when, around 1151, the Frankish Count of Tripoli, Raymond II, was assassinated in consequence of which the Templars, a militant Christian Order founded in, C.E. 1117, raided Assassin territory and compelled the inhabitants to pay a tribute of 2000 gold pieces. Another factor which weakened the Ismaili da'wa was the personal disputes among the Ismailis which added to the complexity of the problem to be faced by the successor of Abu Muhammad. Death Soon after his ascension in 1162, Imam Hasan II had sent Rashid Ad-Din Sinan to Syria as a deputy of Chief da'i Abu Muhammad. A historian quoted by Kamaluddin (d. 1262) reports a contemporary's description of a visit to Sinan, and a conversation with him, in the course of which Sinan is quoted as giving this account of his journey to Syria: "He (Hasan II) delegated me to Syria....He had given me orders and provided me with letters. I arrived in Mosul and stayed at the mosque of the date-sellers. Thence I went to Raqqa. I had a letter to one of our comrades there, and when I delivered it to him, he furnished me with provisions and lent me a mount to carry me to Aleppo. There I met another to whom I gave a letter, and he lent me a mount and sent me on al-Kahf, where I was ordered to stay. I stayed there until Shaikh Abu Muhammad, who was in command, died in the mountains." The death of Abu Muhammad brought to an end the life of a leader whose name and activities remain obscure in the history of the Syrian Assassins. Presumably he played a leading part in the endeavors of the Ismailis to consolidate their position in Aleppo and Jabal al-Summaq - endeavors which had not been noticeably successful, whence the lack of information about him and the mission of Sinan whose energy and strength of character had recommended him to the Imam as likely to be a successful missionary. Even when, after the massacre of the Ismailis at Damascus in 1129, the Assassins launched their third and successful attempt to seize castles in central Syria, only the names of apparently junior Assassin dai's are mentioned by the sources, while Abu Muhammad seems to remain behind the scenes. The fact that Rashid Ad-Din Sinan did not report to Abu Muhammad on arrival of his visits to the Assassin groups is suspicious. Was he waiting for further developments in Alamut? Or, wisely, was he only secretly making some preliminary study of the situation in Syria? At any rate it would seem probable that Sinan arrived in Syria in 1162, and that after his preliminary investigations he took over from Abu Muhammad in 1164. Abu Muhammad's burial place is believed by the local Isma'ilis to be 5 miles east of al-Qadmus. Abu Firas's Account Abu Firas Ibn Qadi Nasr Ibn Jawshan, a native of al-Maynaqa writing in 1324, states that Sinan arrived in Misyaf where he stayed for some time without revealing his real identity; and then later went to Bastiryun, a village near al-Kahf, the castle which was the residence of the Assassin chief da'i, Abu Muhammad. According to Abu Firas, Sinan had to wait seven years, at the end of which, while Abu Muhammad was on his deathbed. Sinan forwarded to him his credentials as the new leader. Sinan's Relations with Alamut Neither in the internal problems of the Syrian Ismailis under Sinan, nor in the relations with Saladin and the Franks, does it appear from the available evidence that Alamut played any important role. There is a report that Sinan received direction from Alamut regarding the case of Khawaja 'Ali, who tried to take over the leadership in succession to Abu Muhammad without having been designated by the Imam of Alamut, and the subsequent murder of Khawaja 'Ali at the instigation of two prominent members of the community, Abu Mansur Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Shaykh Abu Muhammad, and al-Ra'is Fahd. Later Alamut sent instructions to Sinan to put the murderer to death and to release Fahd. It is also reported that Hasan II ('Ala Dhikrihi at-Salam) instructed Sinan to abide the rules of the Qiyama and to watch the activities of the Muslim princes. Category:Assassins Category:Chief Da'is